Maelys Sunderland
Maelys Sunderland is lord of the Three Sisters, a vassal of House Stark and the liege lord of House Borrell, House Longthorpe and House Torrent. An ambitious, if exceptionally flawed man, Maelys has officially ruled as the highest lord of the Bite for the past 29 years, and has a tight-fisted grip on the smuggler's trade between the North and the Narrow Sea. Early Life Maelys Sunderland was born a sickly child, of poor constitution and health. Having killed his mother, a daughter of House Longthorpe, during his birth, he was left in the care of his father, Lord Oswell, who named him after the Crown Prince Maelys to curry favor with the Blackfyre queen. Lord Oswell was quick to anger and slow of wit, leaving the actual raising of his child to members of his court. As Maelys failed to gain strength with age, Lord Oswell was heard to consider drowning the boy so that he may sire a healthier heir. Maelys, in the meantime, spent the bulk of his childhood bedridden from a slew of illnesses, oftentimes seized with both frightening chills and terrible fevers. However, he proved a sharp child when lucid, eagerly gathering and cataloging the whispered rumors that circled the halls. Using these gathered secrets, he gained the compliance of various household servants, establishing an Espionage network through which he experienced the world by proxy. Although never developing a strong constitution, Maelys eventually gathered the strength to walk the halls, most often with the help of a servant or one of his many bastard relatives. At this stage, his father, having proven so contentious that could not find a second wife even among his vassals, softened his demeanor towards his son. Finally acknowledging Maelys as his one and only heir, Lord Oswell taught the wan adolescent of the Three Sisters' true trade, Smuggling, teaching him of the network of shipwrights, enforcers and go-betweens that ensured House Sunderland's wealth while sparing the greater part of its reputation. Using his prior experience, Maelys soon had a friendly ear in every port, cove and hidden anchorage in the Bite. Lordship Upon his father's death from a corruption of the bladder, Maelys assumed his father's seat, and while he proved every bit as disagreeable, he tempered his caustic personality with open-handedness and just administration. Maelys's first wife, Cyrenna of House Torrent, threw herself from the cliffs of Sweetsister during a bout of melancholia, killing herself and the unborn child within her. His second wife, Jonquil of House Elesham, waited until after the birth of their child, Owen, to hang herself. Maelys vowed not to repeat the mistakes of his father, taking a keen interest in Owen's upbringing and encouraging the boy's aspirations in both knightly and courtly pursuits. He was only torn away from this duty to manage his court and holdings, and to spawn a shower of bastards. In one notable, but rarely spoken-of incident, he sired a son, Qarlton Stone, upon a chambermaid that later proved to be his own bastard half-sister. Said chambermaid's abrupt disappearance, and Maelys's insistence upon her low birth, has more or less silenced all rumors in regards to the affair. However, bitterness still ruled in the Three Sisters. Anyone who visited the isles knew that a man of the Sisters was no Valeman, and in winesinks and lords' halls both, men spoke of the long past days of glory before the Rape visited upon them by wolves of the North, or the brief reign of Queen Marla before the arrival of the Dragons. It was a dull fire that lived in their hearts, but one that would spark whenever turmoil reigned on the mainlands, and could grow into the fires of rebellion if left unattended. This same spark lived within Maelys's heart, weak as it may have been, a dream of greater things than a dismal life of rain, salt fish and Sister's stew. Durran's Defiance House Sunderland had fought for the Black Dragon during the Blackfyre Rebellion in defiance of their liege lords, favoring Daemon I. For a time after the crowning of the first Blackfyre king, the Sunderlands had been welcome, if infrequent, guests of the Red Keep, only for their repute and clout to quickly dwindle in favor of greater and richer houses. It was clear that mere fealty had failed the Three Sisters, and that ambition alone would allow them to make their mark. A less ambitious lord may have answered House Arryn's call to arms in the opening weeks of Durran's Defiance with leal service, but Maelys instead declared for Aemond Blackfyre. Like his ancestors during the Blackfyre Rebellion, he gambled the fate of his house on a man he believed was truly fit to sit the Iron Throne, but unlike his ancestors, he intended to bring back some of the glory the Three Sisters had lost after so many ages of squalor and obscurity. Gather the Lords Longthorpe, Borrell and Torrent to his court, Maelys styled himself the Lord Paramount of the Bite, and set his vassals to reaving the Fingers, Pebble and the Paps, burning their ships and beleaguering their forts. And upon the Defiance's end, he sailed for King's Landing, hoping to solidify his title, only to learn of Daemon III's crowning and the gifting of the Three Sisters to the North. In that instant, it became readily apparent that Maelys' aspirations had been a delusion, a fever dream just like those he'd had as a child. Seclusion By all accounts, Maelys was a broken man, retiring to the bedchambers of his youth for months at a time rather than rule at court, choosing to delegate official responsibilities to his sons both legitimate and natural while distracting himself by managing the smuggler's trade. Although never soft-handed, it's during this time that he earned a reputation for Ruthlessness, even when confined to his chambers. For years, this state of affairs continued, with Maelys emerging only for symbolic appearances on special occasions, and it was believed that his reign was at an end. And so would it have been, were it not for Owen's abrupt and suspiciously obscure death. Now lacking a legitimate heir, Maelys has risen from his desolation, only to hear of the celebration marking the start of Daemon III's true reign. Quietly, and with little fanfare, he sets sail for King's Landing... Timeline * 227 AC: Maelys is born, killing his mother in childbirth. * 239 AC: Maelys gradually emerges into court after a childhood rife with sickness. * 251 AC: Maelys assumes Lordship of the Three Sisters, marries Cyrenna Torrent. * 252 AC: Cyrenna kills herself and her unborn child. * 255 AC: Maelys marries Jonquil Elesham, siring upon her a legitimate son, Owen. * 256 AC: Jonquil hangs herself in the Lord's chambers. * 257 AC: Maelys sires three bastard sons, Kennet, Hubard and Qarlton. Qarlton's mother disappears under mysterious circumstances. * 270 AC: Maelys sets the Sisterman's Fleet against the Vale in the name of Aemond Blackfyre, reaving the Fingers and overwhelming the islands of the Bite. His moment of triumph is undercut by the results of Durran's Defiance, and he returns home a broken man. Owen assumes de facto lordship of the Three Sister's, while Maelys continues to maintain the smuggler's trade. * 276 AC: Owen sets sail with the Sisterman's Fleet to participate in the Duel of the Dragons. Maelys is heard to scream his ambivalence as to the conflict's outcome. * 280 AC: Owen dies under mysterious circumstances. Maelys resumes his lordship, setting sail for King's Landing to attend Daemon III's coronation. Category:Westerosi Category:Northerner Category:Sistermen